Totem Poles & Dog Sledding - Day Two

16 March, 2006

(Click on the images to view larger versions)

 

SUN 12TH MARCH

The next morning we headed up to Whistler to try to get dog sledding this time (we had tried to go before on our previous Whistler Trip). 

They took us by bus to Cougar mountain, another half hour past Whistler, and this time the bus got us up the hill with no problem.  There was much less snow now.

Looks like the dogs are more like pets than working animals!

 

The manager explained the drill.

 

The dogs are all Alaskan Huskies - basically a cross between the Siberian Husky and a hound e.g. greyhound, alsation, etc.  The weather here is too hot for the Siberian Huskies!
We were given a chance to help harness the dogs if we wanted.

This is me harnessing Push.  That's Chewy to the left.
Fergus held the line while Tanner set up the team.
Then we got in to the sled.....
..and we were off!
This is the view we had of the 6 dog team!
Here we go!
Fergus getting a chance to "mush" alongside Tanner.
After three miles, we did a turn around. 
Tanner overtook the others as our team was going faster the others.  Tanner races his team of 12 dogs, and was using this as training.  He had half his dogs pulling three times the normal racing weight, and they were faster than the normal tour dogs!
  The professional photo of us as we whiz by (though Fergus wanted to whiz faster!)
Then we were off again.
This time I was mushing.
Afterwards, we got hot chocolate and cookies, and got to fuss over the puppies.
Trip over and back to Whistler, where I tried a Beaver's Tail. 

It's a bread type pastry and was very tasty.
Our second destination today was Grouse Mountain just north of Vancouver.

 

In about 8 minutes, North America's largest cable car (it can carry about 100 people) takes you the 1 mile journey from a sunny, green lowland to the snowy top of the mountain.
This is the view over Vancouver as we transcended the mountain via the cable car.

http://www.grousemountain.com/adv_wilref.cfm
This is the skating rink at the top of the mountain. 

There's also skiing, snowshoeing, a terrain park, etc.  And there's a Refuge for Endangered WildLife - unfortunately it was the wrong time of year for them to be up and about.  But if you scroll to the bottom of the link above, you can see the Grizzly Cam.
There are several of these 15-18ft sculptures throughout the park.

Slightly buried at this time of year, though.
We went on a sleigh ride.
To my disappointment, but Fergus' delight, it wasn't pulled by the traditional horses, but by the more modern method of snow plough!
 
Then we enjoyed the views from Peak Lodge.
Before having dinner inside looking down on that beautiful view.
Cheers!
After dinner, the city was lit up behind us.

And it was time for us to head back to Seattle.

 

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